Rise

There was a crowd in the NetCow Cafe watching the game between High School 13 and Tonji Affiliated High. They were making themselves heard by shouting and cheering. But the atmosphere they created was incomparable to the Wembley Arena, where 12,500 people were showing their support with large banners, signs, and their voices. Though, with the current display by KG, it was the few hundred Chinese fans that were louder than anyone else. They were even more present than the 10,000 Europeans in the arena!

“KG! KG! KG! WHO’S THE BEST? KG! KG!”

“LONG LIVE GOD ROUNDY!”

“WHAT EMPEROR? ALL I SEE IS GOD ROUNDY!”

“GOD ROUNDY! BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD!”

The casters of the official Chinese broadcast were all smiling. The game was better than they’d dared to dream. They were ready to give up before it’d even started. When they saw the Riven pick, they were more worried than excited for what might come. But now, after watching God Roundy pick up the second kill of the game and then the video showing the crowd in the arena that looked very much Chinese, they couldn’t be more excited. Their hearts were beating in their throats as they forgot to breathe or blink.

The excitement sounded through in Qinghe’s voice as he live-commented, “KG is at a sizable lead with two kills to zero! They made the right call giving God Roundy the Riven! He’s playing crazy good! I want to see him carry this gam–”

Stone cut in. He’d waited long enough. “Exactly! This is something really special! You know, Riven versus Fiora should be an even matchup. But now that’s no longer the case. Demon is so far behind on his Fiora that he isn’t even fully safe under his own tower! He has to be super careful, or he’ll give away even more kills to God Roun–”

“Right!” Qinghe interrupted, chuckling. “God Roundy’s Riven is invincible right now! He can do whatever he wants!”

Lolo finally found a moment to butt in. “It isn’t just top lane either! Look at bot and mid lane! Everyone is playing really well! KG has really come together for this game!”

Qinghe looked at the scoreboard. Two kills for KG. Zero kills for Legend. KG was pulling ahead in gold in every lane. The game was going their way everywhere on the map! “If KG can keep this momentum going, they might actually beat Legend! That would be a huge upset! Just imagine! KG doesn’t even have a King on their team! A normal team beating an Emperor team. That would be a Worlds first!”

The people who couldn’t make it to the Wembley Arena and were now watching the game from home or at a viewing party couldn’t keep back their excitement. The streets in many places in China were booming with the excited voices of millions of fans. Many of them were on their phones or sitting behind their laptops and furiously typing away.

「666666666!!!!!!!!!」

「UNCROWNED EIGHTH >>>>>>>>>>> EMPEROR」

「stomp those a-holes from legend. fucking posers!!!!!」

「GOD ROUNDYYYYY!!!!!1!1! BEST PLAYA EVAHHHHHH」

「HAHAHAH MY EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURS ARE CRYING!!! WHAT A BUNCH OF BABIES HAHAHHAHA」

「IM IN THE ARENA AND THE ATMOSPHERE HERE IS CRAZYYYYYY!!! OUR BOYS CAN REALLY DO THIS!!1!!」

It was only 10 minutes ago that these same fans had already given up on the game. They didn’t give up because KG was playing poorly. The game hadn’t even started yet 10 minutes ago! These fans had given up because they thought KG didn’t stand a chance. Legend was an Emperor team. Normal teams didn’t beat Emperor teams.  That was why they’d given up. Or rather, why they never even considered KG having a chance in the first place! But looking at the game now, it didn’t look all that impossible anymore. God Roundy was obviously doing great in the top lane, but the other lanes were also doing well!

KG’s Midlaner was playing against the Emperor. But he hadn’t given anything away yet. His Xerath was holding strong against Phoenix’s Yasuo! Phoenix had tried to kill him with a gank from his Jungler, but KG’s Jungler had responded in kind and blocked the play. Legend got nothing out of it and KG preserved their advantage. They had shut down a kill attempt from an Emperor!

As for the back and forth in bot lane, KG was currently aggressively pushing into Legend’s outer tower. The Tristana and Thresh worked together perfectly to poke down Legend’s Kalista. They’d gotten her down to below half health. She was defending far behind her own outer tower, desperately trying to get some experience and gold from the minions without giving away a kill. The Tristana was building up a big advantage!

KG was winning in all three lanes! They were playing out of their minds! They made an Emperor team only look so-so! The Chinese fans couldn’t curb their enthusiasm. Fans from other regions always told them how the LPL wasn’t good enough for the world stage, how their region couldn’t compete unless they got an Emperor. Right now, KG was shutting all of those people up! They were good enough to play at the world stage, and they were good enough to challenge an Emperor team and win!

✹

“LOOK AT BOT LANE!” Stone shouted on the caster desk. He was pointing at the screen in front of him, jabbing into it. “God Roundy is making a play! He’s teleporting in! He’s teleporting in!”

Everyone switched their attention to bot lane. God Roundy was using his Teleport on a ward in the river entrance to bot lane. The Fiora couldn’t respond. She’d used her Teleport a minute ago when she teleported back to lane to catch a minion wave. If she’d walked, it would’ve died to the tower before she’d arrived.

The Thresh was prepared. He flashed forward before the Riven even arrived and swept his chain, knocking the Kalista towards him–Flay! He followed up by throwing his lantern towards the Riven–Dark Passage! The Riven clicked on the lantern and dashed to the Thresh. All the while the Tristana was letting loose on the Kalista.

Morgana was Legend’s Support. She cast a Black Shield on Kalista, granting her a protective barrier which could absorb magical damage and disable any effects until it was broken, or wore off. Then she aimed a Dark Binding for where the Riven would land after she’d grabbed the Thresh’s lantern.

God Roundy saw this coming. The Dark Binding was slow. Too slow. The Morgana hadn’t timed it correctly. It would’ve been perfect if she’d cast it before she’d put the Black Shield on Kalista. God Roundy had just enough time to dash to the side and evade it–Valor! He followed up with a series of strikes on the Kalista who was trying to run away–Broken Wings!

While the Kalista ran away, the Thresh shifted targets. He threw out his hook at the Morgana, who had no Black Shield on herself, and bound her with his chains–Death Sentence! The skill held true to its name. It was a death sentence for Morgana. The Tristana bombarded her with cannonballs, while the Riven attacked with her sword. When the bind broke, Morgana still had some health left. She flashed away. But God Roundy activated the second part of Riven’s ultimate skill–Blade of the Exile! It was a powerful ranged attack. A slash of wind infused with green energy swept over the Morgana and killed her.

《Killing Spree!》

God Roundy was on a killing spree! He was 3/0/0 on his Riven against the Emperor team Legend! The fans at home and in the Wembley Arena couldn’t believe their eyes! God Roundy was carrying today! Even against Legend! He was snowballing hard and soon no one would be able to stop him!

“This is it! KG should get the game from here!” Qinghe shoutcasted.

Stone nodded and analyzed, “Legend can’t do anything to stop KG from taking Dragon now. This should be an uncontested Dragon. It’s going from good to great for KG–”

《An ally has been slain!》

“Uhh…” Stone looked at the video that had shifted from bot lane to mid lane. It looked like the caster’s curse had struck again. Legend’s Jungler Sejuani had come mid for a gank. She ran down the river into mid lane, then flashed and charged into the Xerath, knocking him up into the air–Arctic Assault! The Yasuo followed up with his ultimate–Last breath–blinking to the Xerath and keeping him airborne for another second before slamming him down to the ground. The Xerath didn’t have enough health. He should’ve backed before the gank, but he hadn’t. The Yasuo’s ult killed the Xerath and put Phoenix on the scoreboard. One kill, zero deaths.

The Chinese fans went quiet, while the Europeans in the Wembley Arena burst into cheers. This was the Legend they knew! They had endured long enough! Phoenix took his team on his shoulders and got them right back into it! This kill didn’t just get him on the scoreboard, it also blocked KG from taking a free Dragon. It was too risky now, without their Midlaner to apply pressure.

The players from Legend were quiet. They didn’t share the emotions of the crowd. They didn’t when KG pulled ahead, and they didn’t when Phoenix picked up the kill. This game had only barely started. They had all the time in the world to win. A few kills in the early game meant very little. Phoenix grinned. He shook his head. Fun game. But they’re stupid if they think they’ve won.

This first kill started Legend’s counterattack. Phoenix used it to pull ahead in his lane and force the Xerath to passively defend behind his outer tower. But that wasn’t quite enough. Xerath was a long range Champion. Even behind his outer tower, he could still last hit minions. So, 9 minutes into the game, he called over the Fiora and Sejuani for another gank.

Legend’s Toplaner and Jungler walked through KG’s jungle, which had far too few wards. They passed through without being spotted and arrived behind KG’s outer tower in mid lane. The Sejuani charged into the lane and knocked up the Xerath–Arctic Assault! She followed up with a bola that froze and stunned the Xerath–Glacial Prison! Then she ran out of tower range to survive the energy shots. The Fiora and Yasuo had more than enough damage to quickly finish the job, with the Fiora picking up the kill. All three of them came out alive after picking up the kill.

At 10 minutes into the game, Phoenix joined his Jungler into roaming bot. KG’s Support walked up the river to place a ward. He was caught out. The Sejuani dashed into him and knocked him up into the air–Arctic Assault! After which the Yasuo blinked towards him and kept him airborne for a second longer, before slamming him back to the ground–Last Breath! The Tristana and the rest of KG were too far away. The Thresh was out of position and didn’t have enough health to make it back to safety. He died and gave Phoenix a second kill. The Yasuo was now 2/0/1 and had almost caught up to God Roundy’s Riven in terms of levels and items!

✹

In the NetCow Cafe in downtown Shanghai, High School 13 was starting to struggle. The first few minutes of the game had caught Tonji Affiliated High off guard. But they’d regained their footing. They were communicating and slowly crawling their way back in the game by putting their resources in every lane that Lin Feng wasn’t in. The crowd watching the game saw this, and the three from High School 13 on the sidelines saw this. Ren Rou, Ouyang, and Chen Ze became anxious. They saw their teammates struggling and wanted to go up and help. But they weren’t allowed to do that. And even if they were, there was nothing they could do. They could only watch on and feel utterly helpless.

Lin Feng saw his team falling behind. They were struggling in their lanes and asking in voice chat for help from each other. But everyone was feeling the pressure and no one had the freedom to help another lane. Lin Feng just listened to this. He didn’t participate. His focus was on his own screen, on his Riven.